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Palawan Phillipines diving

Toque
Toque
in Trip Reports & Travel

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Hi All. Anyone done any diving in the Palawan area? We met someone in Indonesia last year that said they had some great diving there. Specifically in El Nido

I’ve dived at El Nido. It’s OK for the Philippines (meaning pretty good compared to elsewhere) but not exceptional. It’s a beautiful area with some wonderful resorts so if you’re going there for a holiday or with non-divers it’s worthwhile. But if making a dedicated trip I’m not sure it’s worth the extra logistics compared to Anilao or Puerto Galera. However, if you can get onto a liveaboard to Tubbataha (the boats go out of Puerto Princessa) then it’s absolutely worth the detour.

    • Like 1
    On 5/18/2025 at 10:57 AM, Toque said:

    Hi All. Anyone done any diving in the Palawan area? We met someone in Indonesia last year that said they had some great diving there. Specifically in El Nido

    I've been a couple of times... the above water scenery is out of this world (amazing). The limestone cliffs are even more dramatic (in places) compared to what you find in Thailand.

    The diving is good, but as @Troporobo mentions, I wouldn't pick it over other destinations in PH, and certainly not over many of the more famous spots in Indonesia.

    The diving ranges from good to very good (during the off-season, otherwise you will have crowds). Tubbataha is world class... although several folks have dived the area in the last year and not seen any mantas or whalesharks (although the other sharks seem to still be present).

    Coron has a good spread of wrecks.

    Last time there I was defaulting to wide angle for the big wreck scenes. I noticed the deck of one of the wrecks was teeming with unusual nudibranchs. Next day I returned with a macro lens and all I could find was a few dragons. The others had all moved on.

    • Author

    Thanks for the info. some good things to discuss with the group. We are already spending a week in Puerto Galera and thinking maybe a week in Anilao and hopefully a week somewhere else. Any recommendations for Anilao resorts? I've heard that some resorts have a lot stairs to get around. We have an older couple in the group that might be a problem.

    Thanks again.

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